Day 35: The last day: 24 hours remain

I was in a place of pure pristine white. I just looked around; this place was confusing to me.

"Is this the train station?" I asked out loud to nobody but myself.

But I knew the answer. No, it was much whiter. I think I was outside, but it was rather hard to tell. The sky was white too, and there seemed to be transparent objects floating in it. One seemed to be a speech balloon, another a different shaped speech balloon, but this one with lines in it. Another was a wrench. One looked like a house. Another was a circle with a question mark in it. Another looked like a globe. One looked like an undo arrow. There even appeared to be a wii remote as one of the shapes.

"What is this place?"

It was another dream. I was sure of it. It took me a few seconds to recount that I had gone to sleep. "Geeze, are all of my dreams going to be this vivid from now on?" I muttered.

Everything really was crystal clear. Above me seemed to be windows or picture frames. And then I could hear what sounded like a bunch of people running. I turned around and from the white abyss was a crowd of people. Each of them rushing underneath one of the windows. I paused for a few seconds and then another crowd appeared. They all rushed for the windows and just mingled underneath them. Some of them seemed to do some movements. Others seemed like they were talking, not to anyone, but just to air.

I focused on the people and could tell that they were Miis.

"What's going on?"

"This is Miiverse!" A voice from right behind me said. I jumped away in shock. Standing there was that kid who I had seen in my dreams. "Or, well to be more accurate, Warawara plaza. You haven't seen this yet have you?"

"No." I said confused.

"You're just used to the old Wii menu. This is the next one."

"Next one?" I said confused. "As in the next system menu, for their next console."

"Yeah." He said. "Now let's see, where should we go? I know, Wind Waker HD!"

Everything began to dissolve. Suddenly we were both on an island. I recognized it as the Private Oasis island from Wind Waker. But it seemed to be a lot... brighter. He wasted no time jumping into the pool and swimming around. I was just trying to get my bearings. "This is a dream, at least I think it's a dream..." I muttered to myself. "I fought the Reaper, beat him, the Observer carried me out to where Saki, Isaac, Little Mac, Kat and Ana were waiting, and then I fell unconscious from exhaustion..."

"You really should get in the water, it's really nice!" The kid said. He suddenly pushed me into the water. He jumped in right after. I just stood up in the water and glared at him.

"What's going on?!" I asked.

"Well, everyone's taking a break before we go on the next mission." the kid said. "We were shocked when we found you Nugai, and you said you wanted to talk to me about something..."

"I don't even know you..." I said. "The last thing I remember was getting into a chair after fighting with someone named The Reaper."

The kid just sighed. "I see."

"I'm dreaming right now? Right?" I asked.

"It's partly a dream, partly a vision of the future." A voice said. Appearing on the island in the middle of the pool was the Observer. "The Akashic Point has shown you some things that it deems important. Or rather this is some stuff that you saw while editing the Akashic point. Your mind is just trying to process it."

"And who is this kid?" I asked.

"He is the one you will entrust the future to." The Observer said.

I glanced as to where the kid was playing in the pool, however he had completely vanished. It was now just us two now on the island.

"So, why are you in my dream?" I wondered. "Are you just apart of it, or are you the real thing?"

"I'm the real thing." The Observer said. "Right now we're looking over you, you've been unconscious for a nearly 4 days."

"What?!" I said shocked.

"Yes, it's now the last day." The Observer said. "Your battle with the Reaper must have exhausted you far much more than you thought..."

"Shit..." I muttered. "What should I do?"

"For right now, look through your dreamscape for any more clues." The Observer said.

I just nodded. I suddenly felt like I fell, there was that feeling in my stomach, that feeling of just before you reach the peak of a roller coaster, right before it goes down. I landed back in the white room.

This time I looked up at the windows. Inside were pictures. One of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. One of Mario in a... was that a cat suit?

In front of me appeared what looked like a handheld. Kind of like a Game Boy Advance, only it was black, had a bigger screen, two analog sticks, and a lot more buttons. I looked at several smaller windows on the screen, but a set of two one caught my attention.

The first one had 8 bit versions of Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong, while the second had raccoon Mario, Samus and Link from Zelda II. More than anything else on these this screen these two were calling me. I reached forwards and tapped it, and then everything around me shattered like glass.

The white was replaced by a pitch black, and I I just floated in darkness. I could feel a cool breeze on my body. And then I looked down. I saw the world beneath me on fire. The sound of emergency sirens blared out through the darkness.

"What the?"

"The world is dieing." a voice said. I looked up to see myself, I looked slightly older, I'd say about 5 years older at least. A slightly bigger build, along with rather messy hair.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Tu fui, ego eris. (What you are, I was; what I am, you will be)" The person replied.

I just felt a chill go through my body.

"So, your me." I said.

"Indeed, I am a you that has failed, and now the worlds are being destroyed." He said. "Let's talk."

I just nodded.

"September 13, 2014 is the deadline." He said. "When you exit you have just under seven years before Project Fantasia will be completed."

"Seven years?!"

"That sounds like plenty of time, but it really isn't." He said. "The walls between the worlds will constantly be weakend."

"How?" I asked.

"Crossover games." He bluntly replied. "The NES Remix 1 and 2 that you saw on the Wii U game pad. Smash Brothers itself. These constantly weaken the boundaries. The games aren't really supposed to meet like this. Link, going into Donkey Kong, may look cute and funny on our end, but it results in the two worlds essentially rubbing against each other. Imagine like in an action movie with two cars grinding against each other, with all the sparks and stuff. It's like that."

"I see, and does September 13, 2014 have any significance?" I wondered.

"You'll have to see for yourself, sorry, but I'm a no spoilers kind of guy." He laughed.

I glared at him. "Okay..." I managed to say. "What's next..."

"Not too much." He replied. He snapped his fingers and suddenly we returned to the white open field. "All these people you're seeing here are those who have the potential of crossing over."

I just nodded.

"Now then, good luck."

"Wait, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Honestly, I think it's probably better if I don't tell you anything..." He laughed. "You've all ready did some things different than me... and they might have rather long lasting effects..."

I nodded. And then he vanished.

September, 13, 2014... it seemed so far away, yet at the same time it was kind of close. "I guess it's time to wake up..." I muttered.

I awoke in my bed. I looked up at the ceiling. I tried to move, but every single part of my body hurt like hell. Any small twitch would send several jolts of pain right through out me. My eyes darted across the room. There was a light in the hallway, I saw a shadow move, and from the doorway someone entered into the room.

"You're up." A voice said. It sounded familiar. All I could see was a silhouette. A blurry silhouette. My eyes weren't able to focus on him.

"Sort of." I said.

"Geeze, you worried us." The voice said.

"Can you turn on the lights? I can't see who it is."

The lights turned on, standing in front of me was Saki. He sat down in a chair. "You did it, you got rid of the Reaper."

I weakly laughed. "I hope permanently, this time."

"Well, it's been four days and there has been no resurgence." Saki said. "I'm pretty sure he would have come after you if he was still alive. I say it's finally over."

"Yeah, and look at the state that I'm in."

"Yeah, you're quite the hand full." Isaac laughed entering into the room. "That and you weigh a lot."

"Are the other Smashers back from their fight yet?" I wondered.

"No, not yet." Saki said, as he let off a heavy sigh. "We're just playing the waiting game now."

"We haven't even been able to contact them to see their current status." Isaac added on.

I reached out my hand to try and see if the fights had actually concluded, but there were several sharp jolts that went through my body. I couldn't activate the Akashic point's powers without feeling pain. I just stopped.

"I guess we should deliver the bad news now..." Saki said. "You're on the last day."

"I know." I managed to say. The two of them looked rather shocked. "So I may miss them, and never see them again..."

"Yes." Saki said.

I flinched. "Crap... No... Shit... No..." I just went silent. I didn't want it to end like this, never saying goodbye. Of course I didn't expect their battle to be over as quickly as mine, they had how many opponents, and I just had the Reaper... but I still expected them to be back. I just took a few seconds to register everything again. "So, it's the waiting game..."

"At least the assists are downstairs, do you want to go see them?"

"Sure." I said.

I tried to move, but once again, my entire body cried out in pain. Saki noticed. "It might be better if they come here." Saki sighed. He got up and began to walk out of the room. I lied there in the bed, just staring upwards.

Here I was, at the end of the road. It was a bit hard to believe how much my life had changed. 35 days ago, I was just waking up to line up so I could get a copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and from there, everything just blew up. "Nothing is going to be normal for me anymore, is it?" I laughed.

"I guess that depends on what you call normal." Isaac replied. He pulled out a small vial that contained some liquid. "Drink this, it's the Water of Hermes. It will heal you."

I just nodded. He opened it and then poured some into my mouth. Almost immediately I felt much better. The pain began to go away.

Kat and Ana came running into the room.

"You idiot!" They shouted, scolding me for going off alone, and not trusting them. They went on for several minutes and then finally allowed me to respond.

"I didn't want you to get hurt." I said. "Not because of me."

"We're Ninja!" Kat said.

"It would be an honor for a ninja to die while on a mission." Ana said.

I found it creepy about how they talked about death, despite being so young. "You're ninja in training. I couldn't live with myself if two five-year-olds died because of me. Besides, the fight with the Reaper was something I had to do myself."

"And just look where that got you..." Kat said.

"Nearly 4 days unconscious, and that was with Isaac using psynergy to help heal you up." Ana added.

I glanced up at Isaac. "I'm no Doctor Mario, but I did my best." He said.

"Can I sue you for malpractice?" I wondered.

"Nope, I technically didn't do anything, just used magic." He replied. "And if I did any damage, the water of Hermes most likely healed that up."

I just glared at him. "Why didn't you give that to me sooner?"

"It's extremely valuable." Isaac replied. "The small amount I have in this vial costs well over $2000."

I just flinched. "Well, I'm getting up. This room is a bit too stuffy if you ask me."

I got up. Despite all the pain I was feeling earlier, it was gone. If anything, I was just having a bit of difficulty walking just due to not being mobile for the past 4 days. But Isaac and Saki helped me any time it looked like I was going to fall.

We walked downstairs. Sitting in the living room was The Observer.

"Why is the Observer in Smashville?"

"He was the one who was constantly watching over you." Saki explained.

"So, you've awoken." He said. "Come, let's go outside, there are things that we have to discuss."

I just nodded. I walked outside by myself. I was going much slower than I usually could, but the Observer was patient.

"So, what are your plans." he asked.

"I have no idea." I sighed. "Find others who can go between the worlds I guess."

"But with the worlds sealed, how can you do that?" He asked.

I cringed, he was right. The tool that would bide time would also hinder my search for others greatly.

"I'll figure everything out as I go along." I said. "In the mean time, can you let me know when any holes begin to appear once I return back to my world."

"I will do that then." He said.

I felt relieved, I would at least have one ally back in my world. I reached for the bullets that The Reaper had given me. Rai, Sui, Tei, and his memories. That would be 4 more but I doubted it would be enough. "We've got a deadline now." I said. "You probably saw it in my dreams though."

"September 2014..." He sighed.

"Just a little less than 7 years..." I sighed. "Crap..."

"Despite how short it seems, it is still a long time." He said. "And despite how long it seems, its short."

"I know." I replied. "Just, I'm going to have to figure things out."

The Observer nodded. "Well, I guess I better return back to where I belong." He said. "I think I've overstayed my welcome here."

"When I get back to my normal life, you can come over and play some Brawl with me." I said.

He nodded. "Very well then." He said. "I await it."

He turned away and vanished. I then looked around Smashville. Without the Smashers running around, it was kind of creepy. I walked back to my house, and saw Little Mac outside. He was currently facing the wall and throwing several jabs. He began to weave. I just stood there silently and appreciated the shadow boxing show he was putting on. At the same time he seemed a little bit frustrated. A timer than began to beep, and he stopped. He glanced over at me. "You're up." He said.

"Yeah." I laughed. "You seem a little bit angry."

"Oh." Little Mac laughed. "Yeah, we didn't get to see any action, you know. Getting called in to help fight, but not getting to go to either of the battles."

"I'm sorry about that." I apologized. "It's just, I felt that fighting the Reaper was something I felt that only I could do. I couldn't really bear it if you guys got hurt in my battle."

Little Mac just nodded. "Still I wish I could have seen your fight. I'm sure it was something spectacular."

"It certainly was something." I sighed.

He returned back to his shadow boxing. He began to duck and weave through some imaginary attacks. "Who are you shadow boxing?" I wondered.

"My next match in the WVBA." He said. "Mr. Sandman."

"Well, good luck." I said. "I'll be cheering you on all the way."

"Thanks." He said.

I walked back to the front of the house where Saki was waiting outside.

I just looked up at the sky. "I have 6 hours." I said.

"But what if they don't come back in that time?" Saki asked.

"Then they don't come back, and I don't get to say goodbye." I said. "It's as simple as that."

He nodded.

I wished that it wouldn't be the case; I wished that they would suddenly arrive, and I could spend the last six hours with them. Maybe having one last meal together, or sharing a victory drink and party.

But the minutes and the hours went by in a flash. And then before I knew it, I only had 1 hour left. They still hadn't returned. I let off a heavy sigh.

"Nugai..." Saki said, trying to be supportive.

"I know, I know." I said. I tried my best not to show being upset, but I was failing miserably. I couldn't really keep it contained. As the time ticked closer and closer to the deadline, I only grew more and more frustrated.

"Nugai, you can go, they'll understand." Isaac said. "You don't have to wait for them."

Thirty minutes remained. I just closed my eyes. "I guess..." But I wanted to hold out some until the last second. I believed that they would show up.

There was suddenly the sound of something approaching at a fast speed. We looked up to see the Pleiades. They didn't even bother to try and do a proper landing. They just found a long enough stretch of land and got the ship down.

Saki just lifted me up and they all ran to the ship. The Smashers were getting off and they all looked rather relieved to see me. "We thought you would never get here!" Saki said. He put me back on the ground, and I walked towards them.

They were all standing there. The wounds of battle were quite apparent on them. But they were all there. Even Sonic. He seemed in the worst shape, bandages wrapped around him, his arms and legs were in casts. He just sat in a wheelchair.

"How long do you have left?" Master Hand asked.

"By now, 25 minutes." I said.

There was just silence. All of the Smashers just nodded.

"If you have any last things to say, now would be the time." Saki reminded me.

I just forced out a laugh. "I've never really been that good at goodbyes." I said. "I never really liked how it was the end. I didn't like going to a different high school, or watching as a friend moved away. I don't like the big dramatic farewell scenes in movies. I don't want to say goodbye."

"Well, unfortunately, you've got to." Saki said. "Everyone got here for you, now I think you better fufill your side." he gave me a light push and I walked forwards.

I walked towards Sonic, and just summoned my sword. "Now then Sonic." I said tapping the casts with the sheathed sword.

"Hey quit that..." Sonic said. "You have know idea how much that hurts."

I looked at Sonic. I just glared down at him, and he honestly looked terrified. Knowing he couldn't run there would be no escape from any attacks. "Sonic." I said. "What's done is done, so I'm going to forgive and forget you betraying the Smashers. I'll continue to support your games. So, try to get along with everyone in the Nintendo crew."

Sonic just breathed a sigh of relief.

"That being said. I'm not willing to forgive and forget you trying to kill me by squishing me with a crate." I sternly concluded.

"You wouldn't hurt someone in a wheelchair would you?"

"Yes, I would. I'm kind of an asshole like that." I replied. His face was covered with sheer terror, as I delivered a roundhouse kick that sent him flying right into a tree.

The other Smashers just looked at me a bit shocked. There were a few that were just cringing in pain. Dr. Mario just had his hand applied directly to his forehead was muttering something under his breath.

I walked up to the nearest three Smashers. Fox, Wolf, and Falco.

"That wasn't exactly very nice." Wolf said.

"I never said I was a nice person." I said.

"Well, we all got to give Sonic a piece of our mind." Falco laughed. "I think it's fair that Nugai got to do the same."

"Still, that might be a bit excessive..." Fox said.

"He'll live. He's been through worse." I said. "Now then, I wish I got to know you three better."

"I say good riddance." Wolf laughed. "You were getting to comfy if you ask me, like you thought you would be here forever. You were walking around like you owned the place."

I technically did, but that was beside the point...

"Well, unlike Wolf, I'm going to wish you good luck." Fox said. "Hopefully we do see each other again."

"Yeah, we can hope." I said.

I walked up to Ganondorf, Bowser and Wario. It was quite clear that they didn't want to be here. They were perhaps the three that just tried to move away the most. "Well, you three, I can see you don't want to be here, and are being forced against your will, so I'll just get it over with quickly."

"You better." Wario grumbled.

"Wario, you're greedy, disgusting, and selfish." I said. "Don't ever change. Ganondorf, Bowser, hopefully you two are the only evil Smashers from now on and no one is trying to kill you all from the inside. I wish you much luck on your plans that are ultimately doomed to failure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bowser growled.

One by one I went past the Smashers just saying goodbye, and wishing them the best. And then I made my way to Master Hand. The giant glove just floated in front of me. "I've got five minutes." I said.

"The Smashers may be gone, by the time we see each other again, but I'll survive and build another group. Tell me, do you have a plan?" Master Hand said.

"Not yet. But if the seal ever breaks, send your Smashers in to my world to find me or someone that I have chosen to be my successor." I said. "Just look for the person with the Smash pendant named Nugai."

"Understood." Master Hand said. "Until we meet again."

I turned to the last group of Smashers that I hadn't said goodbye to yet. The kid Smashers.

I walked up to Nana and Popo. "All right you two." I said. "Good luck. Go out there and climb some mountains."

"Yeah, we'll do that." Popo said.

I walked over to Red. His pokemon were out. "I wish we could have gotten to battle." Red said. "Unfortunately I guess that won't be fulfilled."

"Sorry, I don't have my pokemon with me." I sighed.

"That's fine."

We just shook our hands. And then the dimensional scream activated.

We were standing across from each other. We were in a stadium. Beside him was a girl who looked a lot like him. I however was alone.

"Nugai, for everything that you've done, for sullying the sport of Pokemon battling, it ends now!"

I was brought back to reality. "Are you okay Nugai?" Red asked.

"Yeah..." I said.

Shit?! What was that?

"You really don't look that good. You're going white..." Red said.

"I guess it's a side effect of my time being up..." I weakly laughed.

I walked over to Toon Link. He just extended his hand, I shook it, however he began to be zapped by electricity. "What?!" He said. I just pulled a Franklin badge out of my pocket.

"Never leave home with out it." I joked.

"I should have seen that one coming..." Toon Link laughed.

"Just keep on being yourself Toon." I said patting him on the back. "I know you'll be fine."

I then made my way to the final three Smashers. Ness, Lucas, and Claus.

I placed my hands on Lucas' shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Lucas, remain strong, be brave." I said. "I'll be cheering for you."

I looked at Claus. He stood by his brother. I didn't know what transpired in the world after he had been revived. Had we been good friends? Had we gotten to know each other? "Claus, protect Lucas." I said.

"No problem." Claus replied. "And, Nugai, thanks for everything."

"No problem."

He just came in close and shook my hand and then whispered so that only I would hear something. "I really mean it, thanks for everything."

I just hugged the two of them. "Don't waste it." I said.

As we separated, Lucas just had a puzzled look across his face, wondering what we were talking about.

I then turned to the final Smasher. Ness. He was digging in the ground with his foot. "Ness."

Ness just glanced at me. "I'm not good at goodbyes either." He admitted. "I don't really want to believe that this will be the last time we see each other."

"Neither do I." I sighed. "Unfortunately, our worlds will be separated for a while."

"You'll at least play my game again right?" Ness asked. "We can go on adventures together that way, right?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Then until that time, see ya." Ness smiled.

I just turned away from the Smashers and raised my hand. Suddenly a portal appeared. I began to walk towards the portal, and back to my world. However, I froze.

I was afraid. I tried to move forwards, but I couldn't. My leg's wouldn't listen to me, at least that's what I told myself.

The truth of the matter was, I didn't want to leave.

These past 35 days were something I didn't want to forget, that I didn't want to end. Every moment spent here, despite what I had been through, I felt like I belonged. I knew what life awaited me back there, back home.

I would never see them again, my friends.

All of the Smashers noticed my hesitation.

I suddenly felt a hand on my back. "Hey, Nugai, what's the hold up?" Claus said.

I felt another. "You told me to be brave." Lucas said. "What do you have to fear?"

I didn't turn around; I didn't want to face them. If they saw me, if they saw that I was crying, what would they think?

"I'm afraid of the unknown." I replied. "I'm afraid that I'll never see any of you again."

"Well, you'll always be with us." Another voice said. This time, it was Ness. He placed his hand also on my back. He gave me a light push, but I didn't budge.

"I'm afraid that in the other world I've been missing for 35 days."

"Then face that like you've faced everything here." Mewtwo said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

One by one I could feel their hands being put on my back. Each of them saying some final words of encouragement.

"I don't want to leave." I cried.

"You must." They all said. With their combined strength, they pushed me. I went into the portal and turned around. I didn't care that I was crying, and what they thought.

They were also crying.

"Don't forget about me!" I shouted. The portal then closed. I just stood there in a void of white.

"Meow."

I looked down at Chocolate... where the hell had he been? He began to claw at my jeans.

"Let's go home Chocolate. I have a game that I need to actually get to playing."

Chocolate let out a happy meow. We walked onwards into the void of white.

35 days in this world.

It wasn't enough time… There never is enough time...

I walked forwards and then looked back. There was nothing just white. I imagined they were still staring at the spot where I had walked through the portal. I just smiled and walked forwards, eventually there seemed to be a fence, and a gate in the middle. The gate was open; I walked to the other side and closed it. In my hands appeared a padlock. I just locked the gate door. As soon as I did, the fence shot up into the sky, separating the two places.

"Goodbye, for now." I said, walking into the white light. "I'm sure we'll see each other again…"

It's hard to say goodbye. I didn't want a long drawn out chapter. Just something short, sweet, and to the point.

Well an epilogue is next.

Other notes:

Okay... It is, seriously, really hard to describe the Wii U's controller without using the word tablet... I can't even remember when I first heard it, not referring to a tablet in medicine, or the drawing tool for computers... When did that word actually become mainstream for for the "tablet computer" use... The iPad released in April 2010... This is supposed to take place in 2007/8 yeah... *BANG!* *Insert mandatory I take to long to update here* Amazing how quickly the world can change.

"Tu fui, ego eris. (What you are, I was; what I am, you will be)" In the future, if I have any gratuitous foreign phrases, I'm probably going to do that, put the translation immediately after in brackets instead of down at the bottom as notes. I did this in the last chapter with Que Sera Sera…

September 13, 2014, of course is SSB 3DS's release date in japan (as of this writing, and assuming there is no delays) Originally I had "August, 2014" but decided to bump it to the actual SSB4 day.